Program Series: Available Space
احکام نگاه ahkam-e negah (The Commandments of Looking): The Work of Maryam Tafakory
Fri, Jul 5, 2024 | 7:30pm PT

Maryam Tafakory radically recontextualizes film, poetry, and archival sound and image to create a vital dialogue with post-Revolution Iranian cinema. Creating and illuminating layers of meaning through digital collage, her video essays and live performances provide a prismatic lens through which to view Iranian cinema and storytelling, without centering a Western gaze. The work is made for the people who recognize its cultural artifacts, but remains an accessible invitation across time and media for all who venture to look.
The first dedicated Los Angeles screening of Tafakory’s work, this program features several short films, including Mast-del (مست دل) which premiered at Cannes in 2023, as well as a rare live performance piece, for which there can be no recording or other documentation.... The ephemeral quality of this work makes it the most poignant expression of Tafakory’s engagement with the seen and unseen, the taboo, the abstracted, and the veiled.
Programmed and note by Farihah Zaman in partnership with Museum of the Moving Image as part of the ongoing series Infinite Beauty: Muslim and MENASA Identity Onscreen.
Total program runtime: 64 min.
Irani Bag (کیف ایرانی)
2020. 7 min. Iran/UK/Singapore. Color. English. Digital.
Nazarbazi (نظربازی)
2022. 19 min. Iran/UK. Color. Farsi, English. Digital.
Mast-del (مست دل)
2023. 17 min. Iran. Color. Farsi, English. Digital.
CodeNames (اسم رمز) with live performance
2021/ongoing. 23 min (excerpt). Color. Farsi, English. Digital.
Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.
Explore our current quarterly print Film Calendar and browse the archive.
Theater accessibility accommodations available upon request. Learn more about our accessibility initiatives.
Know Before You Go
Plan your Visit
Location
The Academy Museum and its theaters are located at 6067 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Parking
Self-parking, accessible parking, and electric vehicle charging options are available. See below for our parking structure information and view the parking page for further details.
Ride-Share Drop Off
Roddenberry Lane, entrance on Fairfax Ave.
LACMA's Pritzker Parking Garage
6000 W 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90036, entrance on 6th St.
5am–10pm
$20 ($12 after 8pm entry)
Accessible spots on P1, adjacent to elevators
EV charging stations on P1 and P2Petersen Automotive Museum Garage
744 Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036, entrance on Fairfax Ave. or 8th St.
6am–11pm
$24 (first 15 min. free)
Accessible spots on P1 only; no garage elevator
EV charging stations on P1Accessibility
Audio Description
For visitors who are blind or partially-sighted, audio description devices are available for some digital film screenings on a first-come, first-served basis.
Real-time audio descriptions are available for some performances upon request with at least three weeks’ notice, subject to the availability of describers. Email academymuseum@oscars.org to submit your request.
Closed Captioning
For visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing, in-seat closed captioning or descriptive audio-devices are available for some digital film screenings on a first-come, first-served basis. Please confirm availability at academymuseum@oscars.org before planning your visit.
Real-time captioning is available for programs upon request with at least three weeks’ notice, subject to the availability of captioners. Email academymuseum@oscars.org to submit your request.
Please see our Accessibility page for complete information, including details on our Visual Description Tours, Calm Mornings, and Covid-19 policies.
More in Series

Screenings
Kind of a Drag: Experimental Films, Documentaries, and Scratch Animation by Heather McAdams, 1980-1995
In person: Heather McAdams
16mm

Screenings
Boat’s Railway Sleepers
From 2008 to 2016, Bangkok-based filmmaker Sompot Chidgasornpongse, best known by his nickname “Boat,” rode every line of the Thai railway, capturing countless hours of footage of his encounters through the lens of his digital camera. Produced by his long-time friend and colleague Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Boat’s remarkable documentary Railway Sleepers depicts an unparalleled journey comprising elements that resemble the “real world” we live in—with its families, friends, food, chitchats, and hustles—but only exists amid the temporariness of the railroad; a fantastical world with a sense of nostalgia. Shot in a first-person point of view, the film starts as the train slowly leaves the station, establishing the inevitable reality of departure, of saying good-bye, that one faces before embarking on a journey to a new world. From school kids on a field trip to friends and young lovers, from foreigners in the nicer part of the train to the cramped section in the back, Boat’s inquisitive mind gently wonders and sparkles in the lights penetrating through the windows, the camera lens, and the dawn that breaks through the quiet darkness of the night. Railway Sleepers is an immersive field of fantasy where strangers relate, time stands still, and a sense of nostalgia subtly lingers.
Programmed and note by Hyesung ii.
DCP